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A judge on Friday approved prosecutors' request to remove Selenski from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, from where he famously escaped using bedsheets a decade ago.

Luzerne County Judge Fred Pierantoni ordered Selenski back to state prison to serve his sentence for a Monroe County robbery rap, ruling Selenski could return to the county prison when his double-homicide trial again nears.

This time, Selenski didn't want to leave the county lockup - arguing he has better access to his attorneys there to prepare for his defense.

The hearing - which included outbursts by Selenski and the sister of his alleged victim - was held seven years to the day that Selenski was acquitted for two murders, then immediately arrested for the double-homicide charges he now faces.

Selenski, 39, had been moved from state prison to the county jail in April 2012 as his much-delayed murder trial appeared to finally be ready to start in September. The trial was postponed indefinitely once again by a defense appeal to the state Supreme Court, but Selenski remained in county custody all these months later.

When Ferentino blamed the years of delays on appeals by defense attorneys, Selenski blurted out that he is a "liar" and tried to say more before being warned by Pierantoni that anything he says could be used against him.

Following the hearing, the always-chatty Selenski ripped Pierantoni's ruling, calling him an "a--kisser for the district attorney's office" and proclaimed his innocence.

"When this is all over, I'm going to walk out the front door," a shackled Selenski said while being led to a sheriff's transport vehicle.

At Friday's hearing, prosecutors argued Selenski was a significant burden on the overstretched county prison staff and a burden to Luzerne County taxpayers who foot the bill to house Selenski when he's classifed as a state inmate, but housed in a county facility. As a past escapee from the prison, he's also an extreme security threat unlike any other inmate, they noted.

Selenski takes up one of the prison's 11 Restricted Housing Unit cells, two correctional officers escort him any time he is out of his cell and a guard is posted outside an interview room every time he meets with his lawyers, testified Acting Warden James Larson.

Larson recently wrote to Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, asking her to help move Selenski to state prison.

"We just can't keep (state) inmates and pay the cost," Larson said Friday in court.

In September 2009, Selenski was sentenced to 32½ to 65 years in state prison for a Monroe County home-invasion and robbery, a conviction he is appealing.

While he is technically a state inmate, Selenski's most pressing issue now is the murder trial in Luzerne County, his attorney Shelley Centini said Friday.

Selenski is slated to stand trial for the 2002 killings of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and Kerkowski's girlfriend, Tammy Fassett, whose bodies were found buried in the yard of Selenski's Kingston Township home in May 2003.

Having Selenski moved to state prison will hamper her efforts to meet with him and effectively prepare for trial, Centini said.

"We want to give Mr. Selenski the best possible defense. He's entitled to my best effort. I can't do my best traveling to state prison," she said.

Selenski, she said, is an integral part of planning his defense and has lived with the charges lingering over him for seven years.

"I lived with it for 11 years," Fassett's sister Lisa Sands shouted, prompting Pierantoni to ask members of the gallery to refrain from talking.

"I'm glad he does. I'm sure all of the people in the community are glad he does," Ferentino said.

Centini noted that prosecutors have been building their case against Selenski for more than 10 years. She and her co-counsel only took on the case 14 months ago, she noted.

Prosecutors noted Centini has visited Selenski 144 times, another attorney has made 17, and a private investigator has made 30, totaling well over 300 hours.

Once the state Supreme Court rules on Selenski's appeal and a trial date is set, prosecutors have no problem with allowing Selenski another return to the county prison to prepare for trial.

"We're not on the eve of trial anymore," said First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce.

No date was set for Selenski's transfer back to state prison.

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055

@cvbobkal

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